Hi COBirders,
Here, finally, is a summary of the 2011 fall banding season at Barr Lake! A complete breakdown by species is available if you would like to e-mail me. But here are some of the highlights: · We banded 1434 birds, 61 species. In terms of totals, a pretty “average” year. · We caught 15 birds that we had banded in a prior year. Most had been banded in the last 2 years, but we had 2 from 2003 – a Gambel’s White-crowned Sparrow and a Yellow Warbler. · We banded 463 Chipping Sparrows, making them our most common species of the season. Second place went to Wilson’s Warblers at 228; I think the first time in the 24 year history of the station that WIWAs were not the #1 species. Third place went to Yellow Warblers at 185, perhaps not a record but much higher than usual. · The 463 CHSPs was by far the highest in one year for that species……..The total caught in all prior years (1987-2010) was 694, which includes the 93 caught in 2010, which was the second highest year ever. · Four CHSPs banded in early September with juvenile streaking were recaught 3-4 weeks later, with clear breasts, so at least some of the young were sticking around and molting. · About the Wilson’s: If we look at them in terms of the percent of birds caught, in the past 7 years (2005-2011) there were 4 years in which WIWAs were 35%+ of the total, and 2 years when WIWAs were in the mid 20% range. This year, WIWAs were 16% of the total. But if we take out the CHSPs, WIWAs were 23%, which was the same as 2009. I think the point is that the most notable difference this year was the abundance of CHSPs, not the low number of WIWAs. · One curiosity: We have at least 2 Downy Woodpeckers missing their left tarsus. They appear to be deformities (not injuries) and they look identical. We banded 1 in 2010 and recaught her this year, a week before we caught and banded the 2nd one. · Finally, the rare birds. #1 in terms of rarity of capture was the Field Sparrow. Only the 2nd ever caught, the other one being in 1996. Next was the Chestnut-sided Warbler, the 3rd ever. Previous captures were in 1993 and 1996. Third place went to the 2 Philadelphia Vireos; only 3 caught previously, in 1989, 1997 and 2010. I think that’s it. Again, e-mail me if you would like the full list. We are starting to plan for spring at Chatfield – opening day will be Saturday, April 28! Happy New Year! Meredith Meredith McBurney Biologist/Bander Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory 303-329-8091 -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
